The inventive concepts disclosed herein relate generally to the field of Transmission Control Protocol (“TCP”) and Internet Protocol (“IP”) systems. More particularly, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein relate to delivering information across a network using traffic policing and traffic shaping strategies to reduce bandwidth when transmitting safety critical data without inefficiently using network bandwidth.
The internet includes a global network of computers with each computer having a unique IP address and configured to communicate messages, directly or indirectly, with one another. Protocol stacks are used to translate information to electronic signals for transmission over a network, such as the internet, and then to translate the transmitted electronic signals back to information. A TCP/IP protocol stack is typically used to carry out such functions. Typically, if the information to be sent from one computer over the internet to another computer is long, the information is broken up into smaller portions, known as packets, for transmission. When transmitted over the internet, packets traverse routers, internet service provider backbones, dedicated lines, and other networks until the packets reach their intended destination, using up bandwidth along the way.
Use of TCP/IP protocol stacks in airborne systems should comply with industry guidelines and regulations to ensure safe operation of safety-critical software and equipment. For example, DO-178, Software Consideration in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification, is one such guideline for safety-critical software used in some airborne systems. However, network stacks that include TCP are expensive to develop and expensive to test to DO-178 level C or higher. Current commercial off-the-shelf products are not designed with safety as a primary concern, and therefore such products do not provide equipment capable of safety critical use of TCP with network determinism (e.g., determining routes between given pairs of nodes in advance of transmission).